BOSTON—Joe Colborne emerged from the Maple Leafs dressing perhaps a tad perplexed at why the hockey media wanted to talk to him.

“If you guys know I’m getting in the lineup, I’d like to know,” said the young centre.

Of course, Leafs coach Randy Carlyle is not giving away secrets. But he had announced to the media only moments before that there would be changes up front.

This was after a practice in which Colborne centred Clarke MacArthur and Matt Frattin while Frazer McLaren and Colton Orr skated without a centre.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

“Ever since I’ve been called up, I show up every day, work my butt off,” said Colborne. “If the opportunity is there, I’m going to jump on it and run with it. Whatever the coaches see as the best opportunity to win, I will support.”

The idea of Colborne being a difference-maker in Game 2 might be a bit far-fetched. It’s not fair to pin those hopes on a rookie, no matter how highly regarded he happens to be.

But it is a delicious notion, considering the way Bruins fans throw it in Phil Kessel’s face whenever Tyler Seguin scores.

Colborne was the result of another Leaf trade with Boston, one that sent Tomas Kaberle — who was past his best-before date — to the Bruins for Colborne and a first-round-pick.

Colborne himself was a first-round pick — 16th overall in 2008 — but one whose development was slowed by a wrist injury. His AHL numbers looks bad. But most of his 14 goals and 28 assists this season came after is wrist healed finally around Christmas.

At 6-5, the 23-year-old has the size down the middle the Leafs need to face Boston. He’s dying to get into the playoffs and to face his old team.

“So bad,” he said. “Even with the history of Boston. You could feel the intensity up in the press box. There’s so much pride we have. I know it (Game 1) wasn’t the best foot forward. It’s a seven-game series.”

He came up through the ranks — rookie camps, training camps and with Boston’s AHL affiliate in Providence — with a lot of Bruins. Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin, Adam McQuaid and Tuukka Rask are just a few he’s crossed paths with in the Bruins fold.

“I had a great time when I was in Boston. They’re a character-heavy team. They’ve proven that.”

With only a handful of NHL games on his resume, Colborne could find himself thrust into the limelight in a series that seems a little lopsided in Boston’s favour.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Colborne. “Boston has give us some problems over the last few years. They’re a great team for a reason. They’ve won the Stanley Cup. Those guys have experience.

“We’re trying to learn as we go. I don’t think there’s any switch you can flick, they stepped their game up to another level. We have to find a way to match it.”

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FINE WITH RANDY

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle didn’t want to say anything about whether he thought Boston’s Andrew Ference deserved supplementary discipline for his head check to Mikhail Grabovski in Game 1.

“That’s up to the league. I learned a long time ago you don’t make comments that are directed towards the league’s upper management at the league level.”

I asked him how much that “lesson” cost. “Ten thousand. I had to write the cheque. My wife wrote it, actually. I got raspberries for opening my big mouth.”

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LEAFS NEED A WADE REDDEN

Asked if the playoffs brought out the best in some players, Randy Carlyle pointed to Boston’s Wade Redden, a noted Leaf killer from his days with the Senators and the feel-good story of this playoffs.

Redden was banished to the minors for three years for the sin of agreeing to be paid too much by the New York Rangers. In the minors until last year, his salary didn’t count against the cap.

As a free agent, he signed a new (more modest) salary and is back in the NHL. He got a goal and an assist in Game 1.

“There’s always heroes that emerge within the games over the course of the series,” said Carlyle. “For a guy like Wade Redden, ostracized from the game in a lot of ways, comes back in and is playing his first playoff game in three years and scores a big goal and gets an assist. Those are the things that happen.”

Then Carlyle turned to his Leafs.

“We expect them to play the game to a higher level than they did (in Game 1).”

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THE VIEW FROM BOSTON: Claude Julien

On how to take advantage of another team questioning themselves for the next few days.

“I don’t know if they’re questioning themselves. I guess we’re all assuming that, but I’m not. Like I said there, Randy’s (Carlyle) going to make some adjustments and I said it before and I said it I think the last time I was in Toronto, it’s a good team and I’ve been extremely impressed with the direction the Leafs have gone this year and sure Randy’s done a great job and the players have bought in, but it just goes to show you that when you play as a team what can happen. So, that’s why I’m standing here and telling you right now, we’re not overconfident, we’re none of that stuff. We know it’s going to be a tough series and we just got to be ready to grind it out.”

On the value of having a coach like Carlyle.

“There’s some experience there at winning the Cup and those are things that he can share with his team, but at the same time I know he’s demanding, but once the players see the rewards that they reap from it, they’re happy to do it and I think he’s done a good job of getting the philosophy that he wanted with that team and that’s why they’re in the playoffs.”

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SUMMING IT UP:

JAMES REIMER: “Sometimes you have to flush it. You learn from your mistakes. You go over it and see what you did wrong. There’s no point dwelling on it. The sun came up this morning. It’s a new day. We have a new opportunity on Saturday.”

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